LIVE GAZA. US shoots down four long-range missiles over Red Sea – Netanyahu still wants to send delegation to US after canceled trip | Israel-Palestine conflict

The United States shot down four long-range missiles over the Red Sea on Wednesday night. The American military command in the Middle East (Centcom) announced this on Twitter on Wednesday.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, fired the missiles at an American warship, according to Centcom. That “turned into self-defense”, it is said.

No injuries or damage were reported.

Following the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian radical organization Hamas in early October, the Houthi rebels have stepped up their attacks on container ships, tankers and warships in the Red Sea. The Houthis support the Palestinians.

Nine people were killed in two Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Wednesday evening. This was reported by the Lebanese state news agency ‘NNA’. The Israeli army confirmed the attacks.

According to the army, a Hezbollah terrorist cell was hit in Tajir Harfa, southern Lebanon. A target was also hit near Naqoura, also in the south.

The Lebanese state news agency NNA speaks of three deaths in a cafe in Naqoura and six deaths in Tajir Harfa. Lebanese security sources say that among those killed in Naquora is a commander of the Shiite Amal movement, which is closely affiliated with Hezbollah. A Hezbollah member is said to have been killed in Tajir Harfa.

Since the start of the October 7 war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hamas allies – particularly the Lebanese Hezbollah – have been engaged in almost daily firefights with Israeli forces along the southern border with Lebanon. Fatalities also occur regularly.

During her visit to Israel, Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (MR) called on Wednesday for a thorough international investigation into the sexual violence during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Lahbib, who has made the fight against sexual violence one of her priorities, made the call during her meeting with Orith Solitziau, director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI), and gynecologist Dvora Bauman of Hasasah Hospital in Jerusalem. That meeting was part of Minister Lahbib’s three-day working visit to Israel and the West Bank.

There are “good reasons to believe” that the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack were raped, as were some hostages in Gaza, according to a recent United Nations report.

The United Nations was previously criticized for being slow to respond to reports of rape and sexual violence that Israel accuses Hamas of. The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, spent more than two weeks in Israel and the West Bank together with several experts in early February.

Based on information gathered from “several independent sources, there is good reason to believe that conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred in several locations on the edge of the Gaza Strip during the October 7 attack, including rape and gang rape at at least three locations,” including the location at the Nova festival, the report said.

Hamas has dismissed those findings as “false” and “unfounded.” The UN report “does not quote any testimony from victims,” ​​the Palestinian terror organization responded. According to Hadja Lahbib, it is therefore important to go a step further and set up an international commission of inquiry.

According to the Israeli ARCCI report presented to Minister Lahbib on Wednesday, the sexual violence on October 7 was “systematic, premeditated and intentional.” The report was drawn up based on eyewitness accounts, particularly of the Nova Festival attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to send a delegation to the United States after deciding on Monday to cancel a planned meeting on Gaza in Washington at the last minute. Both American and Israeli officials report this.

The two countries would now look for a date on which the visit can still take place. According to Israeli sources, that could be next week.

During the meeting, the two countries were expected to discuss a planned Israeli offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The US does not want Israel to start that offensive, for fear of a humanitarian catastrophe.

By canceling the original visit, Netanyahu was responding to the US abstention during a UN Security Council vote. This allowed the Security Council to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for the first time.

Netanyahu says he will not yield to international pressure to stop the war.